and file one. Always ask for a copy of the report.

• If you are the victim of repeated harassment, establish a no-contact agreement with that person through your County Prosecutor's Office.

Remember that people receive copies of charges brought against them, complete with whatever address has been provided to the City. If you do not want a perpetrator to know your address, use a post office box. If you don't have one, ask a nearby civil rights or assault prevention agency if you can receive mail in its care. CLEAR IT WITH THE AGENCY before you have mail sent to its address.

MILITARY

The war in the Mideast raised questions about the rights of Lesbians and Gay men to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. Gay men and Lesbians do indeed serve in the military, but must lead closeted lives or face discharge.

In January 1943, all branches of the U.S. Military issued a directive establishing a policy of discharging Lesbian or Gay service members. Directive 1332.14 (Part 1, Section H) of the U.S. Department of Defense Policy states, "Homosexuality is incompatible with military service. The presence in the military environment of persons who engage in homosexual conduct or who, by their statements, demonstrate a propensity to engage in homosexual conduct, seriously impairs the military mission."

Forms that you fill out when you enlist ask if you have had sex with a person of your own sex, and if you have a propensity to homosexual conduct. Answering yes generally results in your being rejected (although, in times of war, those answering yes have sometimes been accepted). If you answer no and are later found out, it is considered fraudulent enlistment, and you can (and probably will) be court-martialled.

When he was drafted during the Viet Nam Conflict, Sgt. Perry Watkins told his draft board that he had homosexual tendencies. He was accepted anyway. When the Army later refused to accept Watkins' re-enlistment, the courts upheld Watkins' right to serve, as the military had accepted him as an openly Gay draftee. The court's decision may be applicable to other cases and is being investigated by civil rights attorneys.

In 1987, the Department of Defense convened a panel to investigate "nonconforming sexual orientations and military suitability." This panel reported in December 1988 that sexual orientation "is unrelated to job performance in the same way as is being leftor right-handed." The DoD attempted to squelch this report; action by Senator Pat Schroeder (D-CO) and openly Gay U.S. Representative Gerry Studds (D-MA) forced the report into the open. A second report, later ordered by the military, declared that many Gay men and Lesbians display military suitability "that is as good as or better than the average heterosexual." The military remains firm in its belief, however, that homosexuality and military service are incompatible.

If you are Gay or Lesbian and want to stay in the military, you must keep your orientation private. Members of the military have been discharged for merely making statements about being homosexual, and the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the military's right to do so. Military investigators have been known to follow service members off base, to open personal letters, and to attempt to force confessions.

Should you be faced with an investigation, those in the know tell you: Say nothing! Sign nothing! Get a civilian lawyer! Fight back! Anything you say, sign or initial can and probably will be used against you. Remember-no one can order you to say, sign or initial anything.

A common ploy in Lesbian and Gay witch hunts by the military is to get a suspect to name other people. People have been told that if they would just lead investigators to other Gay people, they would get off the hook. But it doesn't work, and only draws other people into the witch hunts.

As a member of the military, you are entitled to a military lawyer. Remember, military lawyers are still employed by the military. Before you speak to one, get civilian counsel. You will have to find and pay for it yourself, but there are groups who can help you:

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund

212-995-8585

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force

202-332-6483

ACLU/Lesbian and Gay Rights Project

212-944-9800, x545

Human Rights Campaign Fund

202-628-4160

Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Veterans of America

414-933-6233

Citizen Soldier

212-777-3470

ROTC

The military's exclusionary policy also pertains to military academics and the Army

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Ohio Gay Guide 10

Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), which operates at colleges and universities around the country.

ROTC has recently begun demanding that Gay/Lesbian college students return scholarship money earned through the ROTC program. Administration, faculty and students at many universities have charged that this practice and ROTC's generally exclusionary policies violate the universities' nondiscrimination policies. Some universities, several here in the Midwest, have requested that the Army bring the ROTC program into compliance with these policies or cease to operate.

The Ohio State University Gay and Lesbian Alliance and other student and faculty groups have challenged the ROTC, citing OSU's non-discrimination policies.

Response to this anti-ROTC campaigning has come on both a federal and state level. This summer, State Representative Robert Netzley (R-Laura) and State Senator Eugene Watts (R-Galloway) introduced an amendment to the Ohio higher education budget that forbids publicly assisted universities or colleges from banning ROTC programs from their campuses. This ban extends to federal recruiters from the CIA and the FBI. Representative Gerald B. Solomon (R-NY) introduced legislation into the U.S. House of Representatives that would "deny funds to programs that do not allow the Secretary of Defense access to students on campuses or to certain student information for recruiting purposes."

As in all cases involving military matters, if you become the subject of an investigation based on your sexual orientation, you should contact a civilian attorney immediately.

IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION

In 1990, Congress gave final approval to legislation that removes Gay men and Lesbians from the nation's list of immigration exclusions. This legislation also gave the Secretary of Health and Human Services authority to delete AIDS and HIV from the list of restricted diseases. He did so, but the U.S. Department of Justice has "temporarily" delayed enforcement of the deletion for at least 60 days, effective July 1,1991. National human rights organizations are encouraging citizens to write the Centers for Disease Control asking them to remove HIV from the list of excludable diseases. The CDC will accept citizens' input through August 31, 1991. The Family Unity and Employment Opportunity Immigration Act of 1990 struck down McCarthy-era restrictions against Lesbian and Gay visitors and immigrants. The original restrictions, established in the 50s, considered Gay men and Lesbians to have a dangerous illness. A few courts on the West Coast found in favor of Gay/Lesbian immigrants in the 70s and 80s, but for the most part, legal challenges were unsuccessful, even after the American medical, psychiatric and psychologic communities ceased to regard homosexuality as an illness.

Openly Gay U.S. Representative Barney Frank was key to the passing of this new legislation.

Until this new law went into effect, Lesbians and Gay men were subject to automatic exclusion. Luggage searches that turned up Gay erotica, newspapers, or other Gay-related materials were used as evidence, and "personality profiles" were drawn up by the Immigration and Naturalization Services to assist inspectors in determining Gay or Lesbian foreigners.

AIDS LEGISLATION

President George Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law on July 26, 1990, extending anti-discrimination protections to people with AIDS and HIV. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force reports that the bill prohibits discrimination in public services, transportation, public accommodations, telecommunications, and privatesector employment for handicapped persons, including people with AIDS and HIV.

KARATE TEMPLE

Korean Karate

鳳

TANG 100 DO

443-1025

MELANIE B. FINE

Schiller Recreation Center

Columbus, Ohio

645-3156

Self Defense